The Materiality of the Intangible: Literary Metaphor in Multimodal Texts

Electronic Literature Organization
Paris, France
September 2013

Later published as a journal article: Skains, R. Lyle. 2019. “The Materiality of the Intangible: Literary Metaphor in Multimodal Texts.” Convergence 25 (1): 133–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856517703965.

Abstract

In presenting her theory of the technotext, Katherine Hayles argues that it is the conjunction of the physical embodiment of technotexts (whether semi-tangible in digital form, or as fully physical as a book) with their embedded verbal signifiers that constructs both plurimodal meaning and an implicit construct of the user/reader (2002, 130-1). This paper seeks to examine the dynamic on the other side of technotexts: that of the creator and the text. Specifically, this paper examines how the materiality of digital media contributes to a layered metaphor that delivers meaning, reflects on the cognitive processes (the writer’s and the reader’s) of navigation, and generates a dynamic narrative structure through user interaction.

Cite as: Skains, R. Lyle. 2013. “The Materiality of the Intangible: Literary Metaphor in Multimodal Texts.” In Electronic Literature Organization, 26 Sept 2013. Paris.